SEO has left the party: How travel marketing could change in an AI world

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), search engine optimization—or at least SEO as we know it—has been effectively kicked out of the party. And it's a “reality” that the travel sector is being forced to confront.

Mario Gavira, vice president of growth and brand for Kiwi.com, who has been vocal about the future as it relates to AI and agentic AI, said the industry has to adapt.

“Our content strategy, linking strategy has to change to adapt to the new reality,” Gavira said. “But that's the first step. Now we have to test—will these AI agents really become a new acquisition channel? Will it be only search? Will it be end-to-end transactions? Will people be willing to allow the agent to actually finish a transaction on behalf of the customer?”

What brands need to focus on is how to become visible in those results.

Amanda Moore, vice president of performance marketing for Preferred Travel Group, added that with the changing environment and the decline of SEO, public relations and personas are back on the table. But it remains to be seen how paid search will be factored in going forward.

“I think the way we think of paid search is just going to evolve in terms of its definition,” Moore said.

The two also opened up about how their roles have changed in recent year as technology has advanced, with AI having a profound impact on their workflows. Further, they touched on travel’s commercial model, the resurgence of public relations and more.

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